At Transcription Centre we specialise in transcription of interviews, focus groups and speeches for academics and market researchers primarily in the UK.
Frequently Asked Questions
+ Do you transcribe audio verbatim? (i.e. exactly as spoken)
Our standard transcription style is ‘Intelligent Verbatim’ which gives an accurate record of the spoken words with minor edits to grammar, repetitions and unfinished sentences (when the content doesn't add important meaning) purely for readability.
'Full Verbatim' transcription is available on request for an additional fee - this must be at the time of order as it is not possible to edit from Intelligent Verbatim to Full Verbatim. Full Verbatim transcripts include every word spoken. This includes stammers, repetitions, unfinished sentences and any grammatical errors made by the speaker.
Example of Intelligent Verbatim: Okay, so I guess a nice easy place to start is to tell you about my project. My research is looking at the involvement of citizens in decision-making.
Example of Full Verbatim: Okay, so I guess kind of, I guess a nice easy place to start is um… to tell you about my, my project. So my research is looking at, you know, the involvement of citizens in decision-making.
You can also have a look at our blog post about full verbatim transcription which explains in more detail.
+ Do you transcribe audio in languages other than English?
In addition to English, we are able to provide transcription of audio in the following languages: French, Spanish, Swedish, Dutch and German. This is outside of our standard service so we may need extra time to complete these transcripts.
In some instances, we may be able to offer translations into English for the purposes of analysis. Please note: We do not offer certified translations. Foreign language transcription will incur additional costs, so please contact us for further information.
+ What is your data protection/ confidentiality policy?
Our team of transcribers have all signed non-disclosure agreements, and your audio files are encrypted during transfer through our online password protected system. We aim to comply with GDPR and are registered and in compliance with the UK Data Protection Act.
Transcripts are stored in encrypted drives for 30 days before being securely destroyed. Transcripts and audio are stored on our password encrypted system for retrieval by the client uploader for 67 days after client deadline, this can be reconfigured on request. Read our full privacy and data protection policy here.
+ What format files can you transcribe?
We can accept a wide range of audio file types (mpg, mpeg, wmv, pcm wav, mp3 (any bit rate), wma, avi, mov, rm, flv, ogg, swf, mp2, mp4, aac, m4a, flac, aiff). In some cases such as .ds2/.dss files from Olympus recorders, files may need conversion by us before we can use them.
Unfortunately due to digital security concerns we cannot accept CDs, DVDs or memory sticks.
+ Do you store my transcripts for me?
We store the transcripts and the audio in our secure workflow system for the period during which it is being transcribed. It is then stored for a further 67 days after the transcript has been sent to the client. We cannot recover data that has been wiped from the system so please do not use us as an external storage company.
+ Do you use voice recognition software to transcribe?
No! All of our files are fully transcribed and proofread by real human beings who are highly experienced, native English speakers. We think AI has a long way to go before it can do as good a job as we can and feeding your data into a learning machine has obvious negative data security implications.
We’ve also written a blog post about this.